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The madness of rugbys marathon

For how long can our professional rugby players last? Not very long at the rate they are being currently asked to play. Think of those England players who were in New Zealand and Australia last summer, then spent almost two months in Australia for the World Cup in October and November, and returned to a full season of the Zurich Premiership, the Heineken Cup and the Six Nations championship. Now some of them are back in the southern hemisphere for further jousts against the Kiwis and Wallabies.

It is a madness for which the game and the players will pay. The players will, of course, pay the biggest toll. Their careers will be disrupted and ultimately shortened by injury. What is the value of a 10-season career in professional rugby if four of those were destroyed by injury? Jonny Wilkinson is the greatest of all rugby professionals and one of